Dr Shariat
(San Jose, CA)-His brother was executed by firing squad in Iran when he was only 16 for a minor political offense.
But instead of taking revenge, Dr. Hormoz Shariat decided to share the Gospel with Muslims and love them into the Kingdom of God.

Dr. Shariat founded Iran Alive Ministries, which started as a church for Muslim background Believers near San Jose, California.
But now his television network has expanded to reach Muslims not only in the U.S. and Iran, but also throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

Inspired by a passage in theBook of Jeremiah, "I will set My throne in Elam (Iran) declares the Lord," they bring salvation to the lost, and promote practical training and Bible studies to Farsi-speaking people around the world.

Farsi is spoken mainly in Iran and Afghanistan, but also in other countries under Persian influence, and by those who migrated to other parts of the world.

Dr Shariat
The network estimates that 3.6 million people are watching their programs.

Founded originally out of their home in 1987, by former Muslims, Pastor Hormoz Shariat, Ph.D., and his wife, Donnell, The Iranian Christian Church is now the largest group of affiliated Iranian Christian churches outside of Tehran, Iran.

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According to International Antioch Ministries' founder, Pastor Hormoz Shariat, Ph.D., "We are grateful for the 700 Club's recognition of our historic efforts in bringing evangelical Christianity to Iranian Muslims.

Hormoz Shariat, the co-founding pastor of the Iranian Christian Church in San Jose, Calif., and founder of International Antioch Ministries (IAM), which has broadcast Iranian Christian TV (ICTV,www.iam-online.net) since 2002, agreed.

"The population in Iran is 70 million.Seventy percent of the population is under 30, and we are finding that many young people are converting their families and friends after they come to Jesus," Shariat, 49, said."Still, they have to hide their viewing of the Christian broadcasts, as they risk imprisonment, loss of residence and jobs, and even death."

In December, the U.S. State Department's Annual Report on Religious Freedom assailed Iran among the worst offenders of religious liberty in the Middle East.According to this year's Open Doors' "World Watch List" of countries where Christians are targeted, Iran ranked fifth among nations that persecute believers.Safa, who like Shariat was raised a devout Shiite in Iran and later became a Christian after leaving the country, said Nejat TV (www.rezasafa.com) has seen more than 3,000 Iranians and Afghans accept Christ since they started broadcasting last year.

Meanwhile, Shariat noted that ICTV's live, "prime-time" pastoral call-in show has been "the catalyst" for more than 50,000 conversions of Muslims worldwide."One time we had 30 people listening in on a single phone call and all came to Jesus through our show and we ministered to them off the air," Shariat said.

A missionary working in the Muslim world who asks that his name be withheld because of security concerns said: "Satellite TV broadcasts have long been one of the only significant ways of reaching the Muslim world in any large quantity," he said.